Method of treating ores, mattes, &amp;c.



PATENTED MAR. s, 1904.

:1. A. POTTER.

METHOD OF TREATING ORES, MATTBS, 6w.

- APPLICATION FILED JULY 31, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

WITNESSES THE mums versus :0. monmumm. wr.summ'o. 4, n. c.

Patented March 8, 19041.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JOHN A. POTTER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD OF TREATING ORES, MAT'TES, as.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 754,159, dated March 3,1904; Application filed July 31, 1902 Serial No. 117,768- (No model) Toall whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN A. POTTER, of New York, in the county and Stateof New York, have invented a new and useful Method of Treating Ores,Mattes, and Metallic Substances, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is alongitudinal section of a tilting furnace arranged for carrying out myprocess, and Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the same.

My invention relates to the treating of ores, metals, mattes, &c., andis designed to provide a new and improved method whereby metals may beextracted from ores and mattes and wherein molten pig metal or iron maybe treated preparatory to further treatment in an open hearth or otherapparatus.

I will first describe my invention as applied to the obtaining ofmetallic substances from various ores or mattes, &c., such as thosecontaining gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, &c., of which one or moremay be present in varying proportions. In ores of this class it has beendifficult to collect the small scattered particles of metal without theaid of a large liquid body of metal or matte which serves to attract andcollect these particles. In my process I prepare and preheat themetal-bearing materials, and after they are heated to the propertemperature I subject them to the action of a body of molten metal ormatte which will flow over, wash out, and gather together the separatedparticles of metal or matte present in the material.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which show one form of apparatusfor carrying out my invention, 2 is a tilting open-hearth furnace whichmay be mounted in any suitable manner, as upon trunnions 3, and tippedby means of pivoted cylinders 4:, containing plungers 5, pivoted at 6and having fluid-supply pipes 7 The furnace hearth or bottom is providedwith two pockets A and B, separated by a central transverse ridge 8. Ihave shown this furnace as having air and gas flues 9 and 10 at eachend, which extend downwardly and are provided with lower openings, whichin 1 all positions of the furnace register with the vertically-elongatedports 11 of air and gas flues 12 and 13, connected with the ordinaryregenerators. To seal the ends of the ports 11, I provide at each end ofthe furnace a depending water-cooled sliding door or shield 14 of curvedform, which may be connectedby pivoted spring-supported links 15 withthe furnace-bed, and thus act as yielding stops at either end. Eachpocket is provided with tapholes 16 and 17 at different levels, by whichthe slags, mattes, metals, &c., maybe drawn ofi",

either together or separately, into receivingladles, one of which isshown at 18.

19 represents doors which are normally held closed by the ordinarycounterweight system 20, and 21 is the charging-floor.

22 represents adjusting-screws for the fines.

In operating this furnace with ores or mattes one of the pockets at thelow side (shown at A) is provided with a large liquid body of moltenmetals or mattes, while the upper pocket B is charged with metal-bearingmaterials. These materials are heated in the position shown to theproper temperature, and the upper taphole of. the pocket A is opened toallow the bath to be lowered to the level'of this taphole by allowingthe metals or slags to run out. This tap-hole is then closed and thefurnace is slowly tilted, thus causing the liquid body of moltenmaterial in the pocket A to flow into and over the heated ores ormaterials in pocket B. After the furnace is thus tilted a small quantityof molten material is retained in pocket A, and fresh ores and materialsare then placed in this pocket A, where they are in turn prepared andheated to the proper temperature. The upper tapehole in pocket B is thenopened and the surplus metal, mattes, andslag above this level arepermitted to run out. This tap-hole is then closed, and the fur nace istilted back to its original position, the molten bath then flowing backinto and over the heating materials of pocket A. These operations arerepeated at any desirable intervals, the fresh ores and materials beingfed to the upper pocket-at each tilting'of the furnace.

When smelting materials that do not contain lime, sulfur, or iron, Imayadd them to the charge, the lime being used to combine with the silica,&c., of the charge to form a slag, while the sulfur acts as a reducingagent and also unites with the iron to form a sulfurous iron matte,which matte has a strong attraction for the heated and formed metallicmaterials of the ore. The materials or combinations of metal and mattewhich will attract and amalgamate with the various metallic substancesin the ores or mattesmay be varied according to the particular'ore orsubstance to be treated. Carbon may be used as a reducing agent for theoxygen, and a bath of liquid lead or lead and iron matte may be used asa dissolving agent. In the case of copper-bearing material carbon may beused as a reducing agent for the oxygen of the ore and a liquid-copperbath or a copper and iron matte as the dissolvingmedium.

If lead is to be extracted from the lead or copper bearing mattes, thismay be carried out'by using metallic iron or a mixture of iron ore andlime ground and mixed with sufficient carbon to consume the oxygen ofthe ore. This metal or mixture is placed in the upper pocket and boundand heated to a temperature where the carbon will .combine with theoxygen, and the furnace then being tilted the liquid matte in the otherpocket will flow over the iron or reduced iron ore and dissolve it. Asthe sulfur in the matte has a greater aflinity for iron than for itslead, it will give up the lead and take up the iron to replace it. Thelead thus set free accumulates at the bottom of the pocket, where it maybe drawn off at the lower tap-holes.

An important feature of my invention lies in binding down the ores andmaterials to be smelted by using a small portion of the liquid bath leftin the pocket as a binding material. This molten portion will congealand bind or fasten the material to the sides and bottom of the pocket,thus holding them underneath the bath after tilting and preventing theore charge from rising and floating on top of the bath, in which casethe metallic constituents would be entangled with the slag and be lost.The charge of material put in the upper pocket is preferably stirred,mixed, and chilled with the small portion of the molten charge for thispurpose. To accomplishthis same result, the ores, &c., may be put in theupper pocket while empty and the furnace tilted sufliciently to'allow asmall portion of the bath to flow into this pocket and be mixed with thematerials to congeal and fasten them therein.

An important-use of my process is in preparing'metal for the open-hearthsteel process by removing the metalloids, as carbon, silicon, '&c. Inthis case I place the pig metal or other metal to be treated in thelower pocket, either in a molten condition or cold, where it is heatedto the desired temperature. 'While this heating is going on I place amixture of finely-divided iron ore, carbon, and lime in the upperpocket, where this mixture is heated and prepared and bonded to thepocket, as above described. The furnace is then tilted, and the moltenpig metal flows over and amalgamates with these materials, absorbing theiron, while at the same time the deleterious metalloids in the bathconsume some of the oxygen of the ore andalso combine with the lime,silicon, &c., to form the basic slag, thus purifying and rendering theloath low in metalloids, 5520.

The furnace may be operated continuously after the first bath of metalhas been put in the pocket, or it may be operated with fresh charges ofliquid or cold metal after each tilting or after several tiltings. I mayalso use in the charge put in the upper pockets a mixture of metals andores or metal-bearing materials-such as finely-divided borings,turnings, or slags containing metals-with which I may mix lime andcarbon for carbonizing and fiuxing purposes.

In applying my process to the extracting of iron from its ores I proceedin the following manner: The bottom of the furnace being composed of abasic material, as magnesite, &c., and the furnace heated to the properworking heat, I place in the low pocket a charge of cast-iron, Where itis melted. During this time I place in the high pocket a layer ofcarbonaceous material mixed with ground lime and on topof this mixture acharge of iron ore, which is ground and mixed with carbon and lime, thecarbon being employed to consume the oxygen contained in the ore whileit is slowly heating to the point where. the iron is formed and the limebeing used to associate with the silica, &c., in forming a slag whilethe dissolving and melting action is taking place. The furnace is thentilted and new combinations are formed. The whole mixture and bath isliquid, and the layer of carbon and lime being set free from the bottomof the pocket rises up into and through the liquid bath, the carbonbeing absorbed by the liquid iron, which keeps it up to as high apercentage as it will absorb in carbon, thus maintaining its dissolvingnature, while the lime associates with the silica, &c., in forming theslags.

The accumulated metals and slags are drawn ofi through the uppertap-holes before the furnace is tilted, thus making the processcontinuous in its operations.

The advantages of my invention result from the binding and preheating ofmaterials in the upper pocket and the feeding thereon of a molten bathof attracting and dissolving materials; also, from the continuousoperation, the heated gases serving to act upon the different charges inboth pockets simultaneously. A cheap and simple method is thus affordedfor treating metals, mattes, ores, &c.

Many variations may be made in the form and arrangement of the apparatusand the steps of the process without departing from my mvention.

I claim- 1. The method of treating metal and metalbearing materials,consisting in forming a molten metallic bath upon one portion of afurnace-hearth, preheating a separate charge of solid materials uponanother portion of the furnace-hearth, pouring the molten bath over thesolid material, preheating another charge of solid material upon thatportion of the hearth from which the molten bath was poured, and thenpouring said bath back upon said subsequent charge ofsolid material andso continuing; substantially as described.

2 The method of treating metals and metalbearing materials, consistingin preheating a charge of solid material in a furnace-chamber, bondingthe materials with a small portion of molten substance which becomescongealed and fastened to the solid materials, and then feeding themolten metallic bath onto such charge; substantially as described. 7

3. The method of treating metal and metalbearing materials, consistingin forming a molten metallic bath in one cavity in a furmace-chamber,preheating a separate charge of solid materials in a second similarcavity in the same furnace-chamber, pouring the molten bath over thesolid material inthe second cavity and substantially emptying the cavitywhichcontained the molten bath, preheating another charge of solidmaterial in the cavity from which the molten bath was poured, and thenpouring said bath back upon said subsequent charge of solid material,and

so continuing; substantially as described.

4. The method of treating metals and metalbearing materials, consistingin preheating a charge of solid materials in one cavity in afurnace-chamber, simultaneously heating a the same furnace-chamber,pouring the molten bath over the solid material in the separate cavityand substantially emptying the cavity which contained said molten bath,feeding another charge of solid materials into the cavity just emptied,preheating said materials and again pouring the molten bath over saidsolid materials, and so continuing; substan* tially as described.

5. The method of treating metals and metalbearing materials, consistingin forming a molten metallic bath in the lower pocket of a movablefurnace-bed, simultaneously preheating a charge of solid material in anupper pocket of said movable bed in the same fur mace-chamber, pouringthe molten metallic bath over the solid charge by elevating andsubstantially emptying the pocket which con tained said molten bath, andthen placing a fresh charge of solid materials in the pocket justemptied, and repeating said operation; substantially as described.

6. The method of treating metals and metal bearing materials, consistingin forming a molten metallic bath in one cavity in a furnace-chamber,preheating a separate charge of solid materials in another cavity of thesame chamber, pouring the molten bath over molten metallic bath in aseparate cavity in the solid material and substantially emptying thecavity which contained the bath, tapping out from the combined mass aportion of the treated material, preheating another charge of solidmaterial in the cavity from which the molten bath waspoured'and'repeating the.

operation; substantially-as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

vJOHN A. POTTER. Witnesses:

C. P. BYRNES, H; M. CoRwIN.

